


Taken

by Artan



Series: Fluency AU [15]
Category: Zootopia (2016)
Genre: Cultural Differences, F/M, Harsh Language, Interspecies Relationship(s), Language, more mature and explicit language than what I have used before
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-03
Updated: 2017-06-03
Packaged: 2018-11-08 10:13:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,751
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11079471
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Artan/pseuds/Artan
Summary: Tempers flare when someone just can't take a hint.  Biology does nothing to help.





	Taken

**Author's Note:**

> Italics are Lapine.  
> Bold is Vulpine

School visits were never a common feature discussed during the ZPD’s Police Academy, instead the focus was on the rigorous pursuit of justice.  The new mayor however, decided to change things.  Now, social calls were part of the police duty roster much to Chief Bogo’s chagrin.  Nick knew nothing good ever came from pissing off the boss.  Hell, he had better experience than most after angering the most well organized, and smallest, crime boss in the whole city.  Either way, he knew better than to be surprised when some of the more disliked assignments came his way.  There was a certain give and take to the world, and he was a fox that knew that all too well.  Which is how he found himself walking out of an elementary school in Canopy Park.

City hall had an agenda and Nick found himself honor bound to assist, swearing an oath to uphold and defend the laws of the city somehow fell under that.  Said agenda was all about restoring a ‘safe and secure’ city for all citizens; but somehow only the Pred neighborhoods got the increase in police activity.  Luckily that was just more public displays of presence than any actual crackdown.  Nick could only sigh as he slammed the patrol car’s door closed.  Perhaps he shouldn’t have made that comment about ‘proper use of department resources.’  Either way, it was a long, lonely drive to Precinct One from the northern sections of the Rainforest District.

The trip home wasn’t much better, in his opinion.  Some deeply concealed ember of spite in the Chief’s heart had the poor fox working on a day Judy had taken off.  The water buffalo may not have known that she was going to take a day off, but it made Nick feel justified as he descended the into the metro station on Peak Street.  Besides, it wasn’t like he had other problems to deal with at the same time.

There was a moment’s pause as the turnstile registered his ZTA card before allowing Nick through.  The camel seated in the security and assistance booth hardly seemed to register the crowds of mammals streaming past her on their way home, the fox included.  The Inner Loop stations were some of the oldest parts of the city’s transit system and it had a way of showing.  There were certain sections of the platform that mammals avoided, especially those creatures with a decent sense of smell.  Alcohol and urine had that sort of effect.

Ten minutes was an unreasonable wait during rush-hour traffic, and the platform was packed when the subway finally arrived.  A chorus of complaints ad grumbles greeted the late train but they all still boarded.  It wasn’t like there was any better way back to their homes, wherever they were.  Nick found himself a seat near the front of the car, after picking ahis way through the much larger animals around him.  Having to hoist himself onto the worn cloth and plastic was a daily minor annoyance, but it was far safer than standing.

The fox’s phone was the second source he consulted on most matters, his own mind being the first; which was how he tried to occupy himself for the ride home.  Amidst the rattles and jostles he searched for what exactly was Judy’s issue.  She wasn’t acting normal this morning, seeming to be far less touchy-feely and actually annoyed at having to wake up.  He didn’t find anything useful and the internet wasn’t much help either.  Of course, the Zoogle search ‘Why is my bun moody?’ did nothing to help, but it was worth a shot.  What did he have to lose?  Nick stopped himself with that thought, he did have something to lose and had no business tempting fate.

Unfortunately, fate was a cantankerous and snappish mistress; quick to take offense and quicker still in retribution.  Said retribution arrived at the next stop.  The train came to a stop amidst the squeal of over worn brakes before the doors opened admitting another throng of mammals.  One of them took the empty seat next to him.  A quick glance told him it was another fox, quite well dressed too, before he returned to his phone.  His nose took a moment longer to evaluate his new neighbor; they were certainly a single vixen, and a Grey Fox at that.  A few years ago Nick would have found this very interesting, but as of now he didn’t pay her much attention.  He had far more important things to do.

As he was tapping out a message to Judy, the tod had a prickle on the back of his neck.  Long years on the streets had given him sensitivity to the baser portions of his senses, at times saving his pelt.  Now, they were warning him again.  It was the feeling of being watched.  Nick’s head flicked upwards from the phone and almost immediately he made eye contact with the vixen seated to his right.  “ **You wouldn’t happen to be a police officer, would you?** ”  She asked.

Her question was innocent enough; due to the novelty of a vulpine police officer Nick often saw his image on ZPD promotional materials.  It made him a bit of a minor celebrity.  “ **Indeed I am.  One Nicholas Wilde, officer and gentle-mammal at your service.** ”  He remained seated, but managed a theatrical bow in the tight confines of the railcar.  The vixen giggled at his melodramatic performance, “ **A pleasure to meet you Officer Wilde.  I’m Aria Vulpes.** ”  She extended her paw and Nick politely shook it.  There was a certain protocol of politeness to vulpine society that it didn’t pay to breach.

His neighbor didn’t stop speaking after her introduction, “ **You know, I thought I recognized you from some of the news stories but they really don’t capture your good looks…** ”  Nick made idle conversation with Aria, taking a moment to study the vixen while he only half listened.  She was a model of her species, slightly smaller than him with grey fur across her face, muzzle, and nape.  She appeared to be in her mid-to-late twenties, with what could only be described as designer clothes.  As he took all of this in, stations passed and something she said suddenly snapped his focus back to their conversation.

“ **Sounds like you’re a busy fox, but do you think you can find some time for me?** ”  There was a moment of shocked silence as Nick processed just what that question entailed.  “Excuse me?”  He began, “I mean, thank you.  I’m flattered but I’m a married tod.”  Ms. Vulpes seemed surprised at his response, her eyebrows raised and her tail flicked.  There was a long intake of breath through her nose before Aria spoke again.  “ **My apologies, who might this vixen be?  I don’t notice any distinguishing scent marks on you.** ”  Contrition and curiosity joined the surprise on the vixen’s muzzle, creating a strange blend of expressions.  “ **That would be Judy Hopps; we were married in mid may last year.  Our anniversary is actually in a few weeks, come to think of it.** ”

Disappointment was clear in the female’s scent, a dark change from the confusion that had dominated just moments ago.  “ **Well, I’m very happy for both of you.  May fortune and health favor you many times before the year’s end.** ”  The words Aria said were well meaning but none of it entered her voice.  That put a sudden damper on the whole conversation, such as it was.  Nick’s phone returned to his paw and he re-opened his browser, hoping to make a breakthrough on the Homefront.  His formerly garrulous neighbor’s newfound silence was somehow worse than the superficial small talk, but it didn’t last long.  “ **Why don’t you get a real vixen?** ”

It was a quiet, small phrase, but cut into the tod like a knife to the gut.  Not that he had been stabbed before, but it seemed like the appropriate metaphor.  Nick closed the page he had been reading about rabbit behaviors and placed the smartphone back in his lap with slow deliberation.  It was the better of two options.  His voice was eerily calm as he spoke.  “ **Excuse me?  Could you say that again?  I didn’t quite catch that.** ”  A small bubble of quiet formed around them, no translation was needed for the shift in tone to be understood.  The threat was implicit from both voice and scent; unfortunately the vixen didn’t register it.

“ **Why.  Don’t.  You.  Get.  A.  Real.  Vixen?  This ‘Judy Hopps’ nearly broke everything we hold dear and somehow seemed to get off without any repercussions.  I was nearly fired from the city’s largest real estate firms because of what that long eared floozy said, not to mention the names I was called thanks to her.** ”  Outrage and loathing flowed through the vixen’s tirade while her scent flared with anger.  “ **You turned your back on your family, you turned your back on your species, you even turned your back on every predator in this city just so you could have some nice tail and a happy ending.  It makes me sick just sitting in the same train car as you.** ”  She then spat at Nick’s feet with one final insult.  “ **I hope your own mother forgets your face.**   Preychaser.”

“Are you finished yet?”  There was a note of exhausted patience in that simple question, mixed with more cynicism that any mammal should ever wield.  Nick was no stranger to abuse, this may have been an unusual source but he had experienced far worse.  “I don’t expect you to understand, but that rabbit, that **Matron** , has done more for me that I could ever hope to repay.  When even those mammals that should have been her closest allies deserted her, she still reached out to me.  Even aft-” Ms. Vulpes attempted to get a word in, nearly shouting over the off-duty officer.  “But-” Nick had none of it.  He wasn’t going to let some self-inflated bitch shred his mate’s reputation.  “No.  You started this, so I get a chance to respond.  Now shut-up and listen.”

Nick barely stopped to breathe as he continued his invective.  “Even after she broke the city and I spat in her face, she came back for me before anyone else.  Not the Police Chief, not the ZPD, me.  A con-artist who took every opportunity to drag her face first through the mud.”  The subway shuddered to a stop, but the station announcement was lost under the final art of the tod’s assault.  “She is a better vixen than you will ever be, and she wasn’t even born a fox.  I have wooed her, married her, and even knotted her.  She is my vixen, mate, and wife, and you are nothing more than a prejudiced, jealous, and resentful mammal.”

Nick collected his things and stood up.  “I hope I never see your muzzle again, Miss Vulpes.”  His voice was low, bordering on a growl as he disembarked.  He stepped out of the car and onto the platform with the doors nearly catching his tail behind him.  Looking around, he took stock of where he had actually gotten off.  The geometric brass accents and stark colors were hallmarks of the Parquet Station.  Art Deco wasn’t his thing, but for now it couldn’t have been more welcome.  The fox slung his bag over his shoulders and eyed the steps leading back up to the city streets.  It would be a long walk to the next station, but he needed time to clear his head and cool his temper.

 

 

Judy was waiting with her paws on her hips, but didn’t say anything until the apartment door shut.  Involuntarily, Nick’s tail curled around his legs and his ears pressed against his head.  He knew he was in some form of trouble.  Trouble that never seemed to manifest itself as Judy seemed to deflate at the sight of him so defensive.  “ _I almost called Clawhauser to put out an APB for you._ ”  She sighed, gesturing for him to come closer.  “ _Come over here you.  I’m not angry, just worried.  You’re late by almost an hour without texting._ ”  With only a small portion of his initial reticence he walked up to his wife, his mate, his vixen, and knelt down.

She embraced him, holding the fox tight in a way that told him she would never leave him.  His arms returned the gesture as the afternoon’s events grew heavy on his mind.  Eventually, Nick’s shoulders fell and the day’s troubles poured out between them, such as how he let his temper get the better of him or how he was concerned about her strange mood that morning.  It felt good to just open up like that, but exhausting.  He tried to rest his head atop his mate’s, but she pulled away.  Her paws however didn’t leave his shoulders.

The look in Judy’s eyes matched her scent in their concern.  The fox could count on one paw the number of times that hadn’t been the case; it was as though the rabbit didn’t have a dishonest bone in her body.  Or at least only one or two.  She sighed, shook her head, and gave a small half smile.  “I guess we both had a bad day.  I also have some explaining to do about us rabbits.”  Nick’s eyebrows raised and in the back of his mind, he realized he was doing the canine head-tilt.  Judy continued as if she hadn’t noticed, “It’s a biological thing.”  That got his attention, not that he wasn’t attentive before but he certainly was after.  “Are you sure the door is the right place for this conversation?”  It was a poor attempt at a joke, but luckily that wasn’t the fox’s intention.

As far as couches went, their blue, microfiber loveseat was nothing special.  It had seen its fair share of movie nights, afternoon naps, and even a few more intimate moments, but seemed none the worse for wear; which made it the perfect place for these interspecies heart-to-hearts.  He sat first, nearly falling into the cushions before Judy joined him, leaning against his side.  Her much smaller weight bringing with it a comforting warmth.

“So,” she began uneasily, “We rabbits have a thing.  A, umm, a few quirks with our systems I guess.”  “You mean like the whole unable to sweat or pant thing, right?”  Nick couldn’t help but interrupt; he still found that tidbit fascinating.  No wonder why Judy’s ears were always so warm.  “Yep, kinda like that.”  She had mustered a bit more confidence despite his interruption.  “Well, the thing is, there are some things our bodies just do naturally.  Especially for us does.  It’s kinda a response to, um, sex.”  She snorted in self-exasperation, and then rallied herself.  “To put it simply, sometimes my body thinks it is getting pregnant after we mate, despite genetics saying otherwise.”

Nick felt a twinge in his heart, “Am I hurting you?”  He was almost afraid of the answer, but he had to know.  Far too many nightmares of his had started like that.  “Not at all.”  Her answer quashed his doubts and sudden self-loathing that had arisen.  “It just happens more as a response to arousal instead of anything else.  Sure, sex is a great way to set this off but really there are a number of different factors that cause this whole _False Pregnancy_.  I’ve even heard of some of my sisters getting one out of the blue.”

“Then why take the day off?”  Nick’s question was answered by a raised eyebrow and another question.  “Do you really want to be dealing with a moody, angry rabbit all day?  Then to go home and get more of the same?  I spent most of this morning getting a prescription for Norgestrel.  Hopefully that should prevent this in the future.”  As she spoke, Nick reached over and put his arm around her shoulders.

 He didn’t say anything for several minutes but he honestly didn’t need to.  His paws did the talking for him.  They ranged from his mate’s shoulders down over her chest and met each other across her small, well-toned belly.  A tight squeeze ensured the message was received.  He could feel her relax against his chest, until something roused her to alertness.  His stomach.

It rumbled behind her and Judy struggled to rise.  “I’ll get us something from the fridge.”  Unfortunately, that just prompted Nick to hold her tighter.  “Please don’t move.”  He pleaded, “It’s too nice just being here with you.”

**Author's Note:**

> A trip to Chicago was a huge help on this piece. The prevalence of a well established transit system is something that I lacked any experience in both dealing with and its function. Also, I wasn't well versed in just how a trip with any public transportation felt like. Just blame the dominance of the Auto companies in Detroit for my naivete on that subject, but it really is a marvel to both experience and use.  
> There were a few lines I had hoped to use that just didn't find there way into the piece such as:  
> "I can smell her on you, she[Judy] isn't even one of us." "And with that, I know she[Judy] is better than you will ever be."
> 
> "Get a real vixen, not some prey-mate."  
> That was all supposed to feed into the idea that Aria Vulpes held a grudge over the events of the Nighthowler Crisis, that she couldn't let go. Not that a certain amount of anger was uncalled for, but that should have been exhausted months ago.
> 
> Thanks for any and all comments. I hate to seem like I am reaching or begging for them, but they really do help. Either by suggesting additional topics to pursue or avenues to improve every little bit helps. Thank you for over a year of writing about this interesting setting. Although I didn't post any of it, my initial writing in Zootopia began with putting pen to paper almost a year ago.


End file.
